"a case of you" (joni mitchell)

(fotografia de bruce davidson, "lefty with girl in back seat of car (brooklyn gang)", s/d)

"Just before our love got lost you said
I am as constant as a northern star
And I said, constantly in the darkness
Where's that at?
If you want me I'll be in the bar

On the back of a carton coaster
In the blue TV screen light
I drew a map of Canada
Oh Canada
With your face sketched on it twice

Oh you're in my blood like holy wine
You taste so bitter and so sweet
Oh I could drink a case of you darling
And I would still be on my feet
Oh I would still be on my feet

Oh I am a lonely painter
I live in a box of paints
I'm frightened by the devil
And I'm drawn to those ones that ain't afraid
I remember that time that you told me, you said
Love is touching souls
Surely you touched mine
Cause part of you pours out of me
In these lines from time to time

Oh you're in my blood like holy wine
You taste so bitter and so sweet
Oh I could drink a case of you darling
Still I'd be on my feet
I would still be on my feet

I met a woman
She had a mouth like yours
She knew your life
She knew your devils and your deeds
And she said
Go to him, stay with him if you can
But be prepared to bleed

Oh but you are in my blood you're my holy wine
You're so bitter, bitter and so sweet
Oh I could drink a case of you darling
Still I'd be on my feet
I would still be on my feet" (1)

joni mitchell


(1) retirado do cd de joni mitchell, blue (1971)

"the paradoxical spiral" (tomas haake / marten hagstrom)

(fotografia de carl chiarenza, "menotomy, 56", 1980)


"Non-physical smothering.
Asphyxiation by oxygen hands
Drowning in the endless sky.
In ever-downward dive, only to surface
The sewage of indecision,
On which all sense of self is afloat
The vortex-acceleration a constant.
Resolute in purpose its choking flow" (1)

meshuggah


(1) retirado do cd dos meshuggah, catch thirty-three (2005)

"suzanne" (leonard cohen)

(fotografia de bill brandt, "east sussex", 1958)


"Suzanne takes you down to her place near the river
You can hear the boats go by
You can spend the night beside her
And you know that she's half crazy
But that's why you want to be there
And she feeds you tea and oranges
That come all the way from China
And just when you mean to tell her
That you have no love to give her
Then she gets you on her wavelength
And she lets the river answer
That you've always been her lover
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that she will trust you
For you've touched her perfect body with your mind.

And Jesus was a sailor
When he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching
From his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain
Only drowning men could see him
He said "All men will be sailors then
Until the sea shall free them"
But he himself was broken
Long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human
He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone
And you want to travel with him
And you want to travel blind
And you think maybe you'll trust him
For he's touched your perfect body with his mind.

Now Suzanne takes your hand
And she leads you to the river
She is wearing rags and feathers
From Salvation Army counters
And the sun pours down like honey
On our lady of the harbour
And she shows you where to look
Among the garbage and the flowers
There are heroes in the seaweed
There are children in the morning
They are leaning out for love
And they will lean that way forever
While Suzanne holds the mirror
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that you can trust her
For she's touched your perfect body with her mind." (1)

leonard cohen

(1) retirado do cd de leonard cohen, the essential leonard cohen (2002)

o rio da vida

(pintura de paul pascal, "the banks of the nile", s/d)


"Conta-nos uma história Sufi:

«Um rio provém da sua nascente longínqua. Atravessa inúmeros obstáculos, mas a sua tremenda força permite-lhe vencê-los. Um dia, as suas águas são absorvidas pelas vastas areias do deserto que encontra.

Uma voz proveniente das areias diz-lhe:

- Faz como o vento, que passa suave sobre as areias.

O rio estava convencido de que fazia parte do seu destino atravessar aquele deserto. Mas continua a ver as suas águas serem absorvidas e responde:

- O vento sobrevoa o deserto e eu não o posso fazer.

- Enquanto continuares a atirar-te às areias com ímpeto, serás na melhor das hipóteses um pântano, não continuarás a ser um rio.

- E que posso eu fazer?

- Consente em seres absorvido pelo vento.

O rio nunca tinha perdido a sua individaulidade. Tinha muitas dúvidas que ao perdê-la a conseguisse recuperar.

- O vento desempenha essa função. Eleva a água, transporta-a sobre o deserto e depois deixa-a cair como chuva que se converterá num novo rio.

- E como posso saber se isso é verdade?

- Porque assim é. E se não acreditas, não passarás de um pântano. Mesmo conseguir isso levará muitos anos. E um pântano não é a mesma coisa que um rio.

- Posso continuar a ser o mesmo rio que sou agora?

- Não podes em caso algum permanecer assim - respondeu a voz. - A tua parte essencial é transportada e forma novamente um rio. Ainda hoje és chamado assim por não saberes qual é a tua parte essencial.

Ao ouvir estas palavras, alguns ecos ressoaram nos pensamentos mais profundos do rio. Lembrou-se vagamente que, em determinada altura, ele ou uma parte dele, nem sabia qual, foi levada nos braços do vento. Também se lembrou, ou teve essa ideia, de que era o melhor a fazer, apesar de não ser a atitude mais natural.

O rio entregou os seus vapores aos acolhedores braços do vento que suave e facilmente o levou para alto e bem longe, deixando-o cair quando alcançaram o topo de uma montanha, muitas milhas adiante. E porque tivera as suas dúvidas o rio pôde recordar e registar com maior profundidade os detalhes desta experiência. e ponderou.

- Sem dúvida, agora conheço a minha verdadeira identidade.

O rio estava a fazer a sua aprendizagem, mas as areias sussurraram:

- Nós temos o conhecimento porque vemos isso acontecer todos os dias, porque nós, as areias, estendemo-nos por toda a distância que vai do rio até à montanha.

E é por isso que se diz que o caminho pelo qual o Rio da Vida tem de seguir na sua travessia está esctito nas Areias." (1)

uma história sufi


(1) ANÓNIMO apud ISHI - Karma e Reencarnação. Carcavelos: Angelorum, 2003. ISBN 972-8680-73-2. pg. 103-105.

good / evil

(imagem de vídeo de rustam khalfin e lida blinova, "bride and groom", 2001)


"
«When you stopped believing in God,» he went on, «did you stop believing in good and evil?»

«No. But I stopped believing there was a power of good and a power of evil that were outside us. And I came to believe that good and evil are names for what people do, not for what they are. All we can say is that this is a good deed, because it helps someone, or that's an evil one, because it hurts them. People are too complicated to have simple labels.»" (1)

philip pullman



(1) PULLMAN, Philip - The Amber Spyglass. London: Scholastic Press, 2001. ISBN 0-439-99414-4. pg. 470, 471.

alma/espírito/corpo

(estátua de auguste rodin, "pygmalion et galatée", s/d)


"The story was taking a long time; they wouldn't get to the world of the dead that day. As they neared the village, Will was telling Mary what he and Lyra had come to realize about the three-part nature of human beings.

«You know,» Mary said, «the church - the Catholic Church that I used to belong to - wouldn't use the word daemon, but St. Paul talks about spirit and soul and body. So the idea of three parts in human nature isn't so strange.»

«But the best part is the body,» Will said. «That's what Baruch and Baltamos told me. Angels wish they had bodies. They told me that angels can't understand why we don't enjoy the world more. It would be sort of ecstasy for them to have our flesh and our senses." (1)

philip pullman


(1) PULLMAN, Philip - The Amber Spyglass. London: Scholastic Press, 2001. ISBN 0-439-99414-4. pg. 462, 463.

william blake

(pintura de stephen hannock, "launch at dawn (mass moCA #69)", 2007)


"The morning comes, the night decays, the watchmen leave their stations..." (1)

william blake



(1) BLAKE, William apud PULLMAN, Philip - The Amber Spyglass. London: Scholastic Press, 2001. ISBN 0-439-99414-4. pg. 441.